Even though it’s exam time, it’s still the holidays – one of my favourite times of year! Putting up the Christmas tree, listening to carols and my family’s tone-deaf chorus, and hot chocolate every night! So even though there are…
The stuff that matters
With the holidays almost upon us, some of you may have already or be thinking about leaving your belongings in boxes at a friend’s house or in storage. Maybe you’re going home from campus and you can leave stuff in…
Short Stories to Read During the Break
We have almost reached the end of the semester and then we will be free for an (extended) break! Usually, I promise myself that I’ll read a novel over the break but that never happens. So, I decided I would…
What am I doing with my summer?? – A Contemplation
I miss my cat, my parents and the food (in no particular order)…
The holidays are here! How I’m (healthily) indulging this year
Ahh, it’s the most wonderful time of the year! There’s something so magical about the holiday season. I don’t know if its all the twinkly lights or that people seem to be just a bit nicer to each other. Either…
Thanksgiving in Tokyo
Studying abroad means constantly learning. Not always by sitting in class or studying at the library, but in daily interactions. Every day is an opportunity for cultural exchange– embarrassing myself during conversations, listening to my obachan talk about etiquette, and…
“So, How’s School Going?”
“So, how’s school going?”
“What are you studying?”
“And what do you plan to do with that degree?”
The only thing scarier than homemade fruitcake and the song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause” during the holidays is the bombardment of questions from relatives and family friends pertaining to my career during holiday get-togethers. However, I could easily be persuaded that their responses to my answers are even scarier.
Hopping Into the Holiday Spirit: A Trip to the Toronto Christmas Market
December is my favourite time of the year. Well, it usually is. Since starting university, the stress of December exams has sapped up any and all of the holiday spirit in me. After realizing the fact that the most spirited thing I did last December was house a slowly dying 15 inch evergreen tree in my dorm room, and reading Emma’s reflection on her relationship with exams and holiday traditions, I decided I was going to stop myself from spending my favourite time of year locked up in the library eating all of the chocolate out of a discount advent calendar.
Winter To-Do List: The Procrastination Edition
Guilty citizen of the ProcrastiNation right here, everybody.
I’ve got an exam tomorrow, lecture notes and several hundred pages of readings to re-revise, and definitions to repeat over and over to myself until I sound like a broken record.
And yet, at this moment, I am doing none of those things. Instead, I’m sitting here making a list.
As I’ve mentioned before, I do love my lists. I’m already anticipating the end of my last exam this week and daydreaming about all the wonderful glorious things I could do in the time I’m spending buried nose-deep in readings.
So, out of this particular procrastination episode (or ‘study break’ as I like to call them), came a very detailed to-do list about what I plan to do after my last exam is over, which, for your amusement, I’ll be sharing here.
THINGS TO DO AFTER LAST EXAM:
It’s the most arduous time of the year
At about this time every year, I despair. I start to wonder how I am going to finish what seems to be a never-ending list of assignments and tasks. I start to wonder why I even came to this school; I must have a masochistic streak. The stress gets to me and I find myself resisting the urge to RSVP to a number of preposterous Facebook events (Dropping out of school to become a potato is a viable life decision, right? RIGHT??)
To make matters worse, the rest of the world does not seem to have gotten my memo. Don’t they know that I, along with all of UofT, am a big puddle of exam nerves? All I do is wake up, go to Robarts, go to class, return to Robarts, go home, and sleep! I am not feeling the Holiday cheer. Yet, everywhere I go, I hear sickeningly joyous holiday tunes, everything is pretty and sparkly and lit up, and there are tons of amazing events going on. Why is all of Toronto rubbing its holiday cheer in my face? I feel personally victimized by all this hollying and jollying and carrying on.
I know what you’re thinking; this girl is a classic Scrooge. You may be right. I’ll have you know, however, that I have been trying to embrace the spirit of the season. Last night, I went to Christmas High Table at Trinity College. Despite my best protestations—”I have too much work to do,” “I hate carolling,” “I don’t like cranberry sauce”—my roommates would not take no for an answer and they dragged me along.